Orange County executive, also a naval reservist, embeds with LAPD during evacuations
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, also a naval reservist, originally went to San Diego for standard training that was already planned. Shortly after he arrived, all Navy personnel on the West Coast were called to Los Angeles.
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Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus shared with News 12 how he unexpectedly found himself in the middle of a wildfire zone in southern California, embedded with police and military as they were enforcing evacuation orders.
He was following LAPD officers and National Guard members who were clearing an evacuation zone where the Palisades fire is still burning.
As of Wednesday, nine people died in the Palisades fire near the Pacific Coast.
Among all three major fires in Los Angeles, 24 have died.
"You're looking for people who are missing," Neuhaus said during an interview Wednesday morning at his office in Goshen. "You have people who need to be evacuated at multiple locations because they decided to ride it out."
Neuhaus, a naval reservist, originally went to San Diego for standard training that was already planned.
Shortly after he arrived, all Navy personnel on the west coast were called to Los Angeles to assist.
Neuhaus was mainly on stand-by, observing, and picked up some valuable insights while watching local first responders' "successes and mistakes."
Neuhaus said that for one, even if a wildfire is not large, emergency response officials should put out a call for more personnel and equipment than necessary.
Another lesson, he said, is that fire containment lines — vegetation-free paths and roads that help contain wildfires — must be regularly maintained.
In November, Neuhaus helped run the local response to a 5,000-acre wildfire just east of Greenwood Lake.
He said dry trees that were taken down during a storm months earlier quickly lit up, threatening a fire containment line.
Neuhaus said state officials had planned for a contractor to clean up the debris.
"They never got a chance to clean that up, because it was on the back burner," he said. "I think you're going to see New York state as well as counties pay more attention to this because they are more frequent and more damaging."
Neuhaus also plans to lobby for improved, updated training for firefighters.
He said that while local firefighters know how to handle structure fires, car crashes and hazardous material spills, they do not have much access to wildfire training.
